Sharon started out as a singer/songwriter on a semi-professional basis at fifteen and then trained as a teacher. She moved to London in her early twenties where she was lead singer in numerous rock and punk bands, eventually having her own band playing predominantly her own compositions. In the early eighties, she started working as a session singer at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios and was then signed for a record deal.
She took a break from singing while she brought up her daughter, Eleanore, during which time she undertook a formal classical training with Findlay Wilson of English National Opera. She returned to singing in 1999 and now works as a singer, vocal and performance coach and choral director.
With the strong basis of a formal classical training and being a qualified teacher combined with her years of experience, Sharon possesses a sound knowledge of how to develop good vocal technique, how to overcome bad vocal habits and of course how to develop good performance techniques as can be seen by her extremely successful and much loved student showcase, “The Big Night Out with Bells On” giving her the added string to her bow of directing and producing large, complex music shows with diverse performances from solos to musical theatre showcases, followed by a choir!
Sharon started teaching singing and performance eleven years ago. Her first assignment was as the Individual Vocals Tutor at the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford, where she spent a year and a half before going freelance; she has also taught songwriting at Hurtwood House School (6th form public school). She has been the singing and performance tutor at Cranleigh Arts Centre since 2000. Since 2006, she has also been the singing tutor for the West Sussex Adult Education Service. She is also choral director for the Cranleigh Community Choir, which she set up in January 2006 and is starting a new choir - the Cranleigh Community Youth Choir from the Autumn of 2010.
As a singer, Sharon has the rare natural ability to sing almost any style of music, effortlessly moving from classical to rock, r’n’b, folk, soul, pop etc. She is an accomplished jazz singer, as much as she is a rock singer and is able to use her voice as a proper instrument, showing different colours and tones, dependent on the style of music.
Sharon currently works as a soloist; in a jazz/swing duo with a male singer as well as with her daughter, Eleanore, with whom she sings more contemporary repertoire including r'n'b, soft rock and pop. She has been involved in many musical projects including, until recently, a six-piece female vocal band, The Cranlettes,
Sharon also manages her daughter, the singer/songwriter, Eleanore who released her debut album "Parlour Game" in November 2009. The limited edition version of the album will be available in late Spring 2010 and Eleanore will be performing at Guilfest in the summer of 2010.
Sharon is the founder of and co-ordinator for the Cranfold Artists' Collective, which she set up in October 2006 (see www.cranfoldartistscollective.co.uk).
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www.sharonduggan.co.uk
About Sharon
Singer; Singing & Performance Coach; Choral Director
Email: info@sharonduggan.co.uk; Telephone: 01483 279803